# 2008–09 3. Liga

The 2008–09 3. Liga was the inaugural season for the newly formed tier III of the German football league system. The inaugural game was played on 25 July 2008 between FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Dynamo Dresden, ending with a 1–0 win for Dresden. The last games were played on 23 May 2009. 1. FC Union Berlin were the inaugural champions, securing first place on 10 May 2009. Runners-up Fortuna Düsseldorf were also promoted. Third-placed team SC Paderborn 07 played a relegation/promotion play-off against the 16th-placed team from 2. Bundesliga, VfL Osnabrück, winning both games and earning promotion. Kickers Emden, VfR Aalen, and Stuttgarter Kickers were relegated to the Regionalliga.

## Qualified teams

The following teams were relegated to 3. Liga from 2007–08 2. Bundesliga:
* Kickers Offenbach
* FC Erzgebirge Aue
* SC Paderborn 07
* FC Carl Zeiss Jena
The following teams qualified through Regionalliga North:
* Fortuna Düsseldorf
* 1. FC Union Berlin
* SV Werder Bremen II
* Wuppertaler SV Borussia
* FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt
* Dynamo Dresden
* Kickers Emden
* Eintracht Braunschweig
The following teams qualified through Regionalliga South:
* VfB Stuttgart II
* VfR Aalen
* SV Sandhausen
* SpVgg Unterhaching
* SV Wacker Burghausen
* FC Bayern Munich II
* SSV Jahn Regensburg
* Stuttgarter Kickers

## Teams, Head Coach, Cities and Stadiums

| Team | Head Coach | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| VfR Aalen | Rainer Scharinger | Aalen | Städtisches Waldstadion | 11,183 |
| FC Erzgebirge Aue | Heiko Weber | Aue | Erzgebirgsstadion | 16,350 |
| 1. FC Union Berlin | Uwe Neuhaus | Berlin | Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark | 19,708 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | Torsten Lieberknecht | Braunschweig | Eintracht-Stadion | 23,500 |
| SV Werder Bremen II | Thomas Wolter | Bremen | Weserstadion Platz 11 | 5,500 |
| SV Wacker Burghausen | Ralf Santelli (interim) | Burghausen | Wacker Arena | 8,400 |
| Dynamo Dresden | Ruud Kaiser | Dresden | Rudolf Harbig Stadion | 23,940 |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | Norbert Meier | Düsseldorf | LTU-Arena | 51,500 |
| Kickers Emden | Stefan Emmerling | Emden | Embdena-Stadion | 7,200 |
| FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt | Henri Fuchs (interim) | Erfurt | Steigerwaldstadion | 20,000 |
| FC Carl Zeiss Jena | Marc Fascher | Jena | Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld | 15,610 |
| FC Bayern Munich II | Mehmet Scholl (interim) | Munich | Grünwalder Stadion | 10,240 |
| Kickers Offenbach | Hans-Jürgen Boysen | Offenbach am Main | Bieberer Berg Stadion | 31,500 |
| SC Paderborn 07 | André Schubert (interim) | Paderborn | Paragon Arena | 15,300 |
| SSV Jahn Regensburg | Markus Weinzierl | Regensburg | Jahnstadion | 11,800 |
| SV Sandhausen | Gerd Dais | Sandhausen | Hardtwaldstadion | 11,544 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | Rainer Kraft | Stuttgart | GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau | 11,436 |
| VfB Stuttgart II | Rainer Adrion | Stuttgart | GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau | 11,436 |
| SpVgg Unterhaching | Ralph Hasenhüttl | Unterhaching | Generali Sportpark | 15,053 |
| Wuppertaler SV Borussia | Uwe Fuchs | Wuppertal | Zoo-Stadion | 28,000 |

### Notes

* 1. FC Union Berlin played its 2008–09 home matches at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark because their own ground Alte Försterei was undergoing renovation.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| VfR Aalen | Edgar Schmitt | Sacked | 27 August 2008 | Jürgen Kohler | 28 August 2008 |
| FC Carl Zeiss Jena | Henning Bürger | Sacked | 14 September 2008 | René van Eck | 22 September 2008 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | Stefan Minkwitz | Sacked | 21 September 2008 | Edgar Schmitt | 21 September 2008 |
| VfR Aalen | Jürgen Kohler | Resigned | 15 November 2008 | Petrik Sander | 21 November 2008 |
| SSV Jahn Regensburg | Thomas Kristl | Sacked | 24 November 2008 | Markus Weinzierl | 24 November 2008 |
| Wuppertaler SV Borussia | Christoph John | Sacked | 22 December 2008 | Uwe Fuchs | 23 December 2008 |
| FC Carl Zeiss Jena | René van Eck | Sacked | 23 March 2009 | Marc Fascher | 23 March 2009 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | Edgar Schmitt | Resigned | 14 April 2009 | Rainer Kraft | 14 April 2009 |
| SV Wacker Burghausen | Günter Güttler | Sacked | 15 April 2009 | Ralf Santelli (interim) | 15 April 2009 |
| FC Bayern Munich II | Hermann Gerland | "Promoted" to interim assistant coach of first team | 27 April 2009 | Mehmet Scholl (interim) | 27 April 2009 |
| FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt | Karsten Baumann | Sacked | 28 April 2009 | Henri Fuchs (interim) | 28 April 2009 |
| VfR Aalen | Petrik Sander | Resigned | 5 May 2009 | Rainer Scharinger | 6 May 2009 |
| SC Paderborn 07 | Pavel Dotchev | Sacked | 13 May 2009 | André Schubert | 13 May 2009 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Union Berlin (C, P) | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 59 | 23 | +36 | 78 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 2 | Fortuna Düsseldorf (P) | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 54 | 33 | +21 | 69 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 3 | SC Paderborn 07 (O, P) | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 68 | 38 | +30 | 68 | Qualification to promotion play-offs and DFB-Pokal |
| 4 | SpVgg Unterhaching | 38 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 57 | 46 | +11 | 67 | Qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 5 | Bayern Munich II | 38 | 14 | 17 | 7 | 54 | 38 | +16 | 59 | |
| 6 | Kickers Emden (R) | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 45 | 44 | +1 | 59 | Relegation to Oberliga Niedersachsen |
| 7 | Kickers Offenbach | 38 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 52 | |
| 8 | SV Sandhausen | 38 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 58 | 52 | +6 | 50 | |
| 9 | Dynamo Dresden | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 50 | |
| 10 | Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 50 | |
| 11 | VfB Stuttgart II | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 61 | 50 | +11 | 49 | |
| 12 | Erzgebirge Aue | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 48 | |
| 13 | Eintracht Braunschweig | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 46 | 51 | −5 | 45 | |
| 14 | Wuppertaler SV | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 45 | |
| 15 | Jahn Regensburg | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 45 | |
| 16 | Carl Zeiss Jena | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 41 | 59 | −18 | 41 | |
| 17 | Werder Bremen II | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 49 | 58 | −9 | 40 | |
| 18 | Wacker Burghausen | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 40 | 65 | −25 | 40 | |
| 19 | VfR Aalen (R) | 38 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 38 | 60 | −22 | 39 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 20 | Stuttgarter Kickers (R) | 38 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 38 | 71 | −33 | 29 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
* 1 2 3 Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion or DFB-Pokal qualification.
* 1 2 Kickers Emden retracted their application for a 3. Liga license for the 2009–10 season and were automatically relegated. SV Wacker Burghausen took their spot.
* ↑ Stuttgarter Kickers received a three-point deduction due to failed debt repayments to the German Football Association.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AAL | AUE | UNB | EBS | BR2 | WBU | SGD | F95 | KEM | ERF | JEN | MU2 | KOF | SCP | JRE | SVS | SKI | ST2 | UNT | WUP |
| VfR Aalen | — | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 |
| Erzgebirge Aue | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Union Berlin | 3–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 5–5 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| Werder Bremen II | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 4–5 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Wacker Burghausen | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | — | 0–3 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 |
| Dynamo Dresden | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Kickers Emden | 5–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 |
| Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 |
| Carl Zeiss Jena | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–6 | 4–3 | 0–0 |
| Bayern Munich II | 4–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Kickers Offenbach | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 |
| SC Paderborn | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 6–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Jahn Regensburg | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| SV Sandhausen | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 4–4 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| VfB Stuttgart II | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | — | 1–3 | 2–0 |
| SpVgg Unterhaching | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 |
| Wuppertaler SV Borussia | 5–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–4 | — |

## Top scorers

Source: www.kicker.de

### 21 goals

* Anton Fink (SpVgg Unterhaching)

### 17 goals

* Sercan Güvenisik (SC Paderborn 07)
* Torsten Oehrl (SV Werder Bremen II)

### 16 goals

* Karim Benyamina (1. FC Union Berlin)

### 15 goals

* Thomas Müller (FC Bayern Munich II)

### 14 goals

* Frank Löning (SC Paderborn 07)
* Halil Savran (Dynamo Dresden)

### 12 goals

* Massimo Cannizzaro (FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt)
* Marco Sailer (VfR Aalen)